<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>More Than Salvation and Circuitry by OddFoxMirror</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27143792">More Than Salvation and Circuitry</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OddFoxMirror/pseuds/OddFoxMirror'>OddFoxMirror</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Cybernetics, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Protective Siblings, Sibling Incest, Weiss Schnee Needs a Hug, Wholesome Incest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:29:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,107</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27143792</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OddFoxMirror/pseuds/OddFoxMirror</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After an accident left her comatose, Weiss' father bought the best robotics and medical prosthesis companies to incorporate into the Schnee Corp family, pushing medical prosthesis technology standards. Weiss, outfitted with a state-of-the-art new body became the living mascot for the Schnee Corp. Tired of being paraded about, tinkered with, upgraded, and being treated as nothing more than Schnee Corp property, she made a break for it, escaping with the aid of her sister, an underground robotics engineer. The two had been close before Weiss' accident, and all these years later, they're as close as ever, but some lines are hard to find and their relationship may be more than either of them initially intended once it's all laid out.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Weiss Schnee/Winter Schnee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Weiss shuffled from foot to foot as she waited at the train station. Nerves overwhelmed her and she clutched her suitcase’s handle tightly, peeking over her shoulder every few moments to make sure she had gotten away cleanly. It’s not that she was scared of- Oh, who was she kidding? She was afraid of being caught and brought back to the mansion more than anything. She was tired of being the puppet for her father. The display piece for his corporate vision. Nothing more than a mascot to be paraded about as a model of scientific ingenuity, an example of the type of future the Schnee Corporation promised.</p><p>Within her chest whirred the most advanced set of microprocessors and circuitry, the prototype of a promised line of body replacements. Weiss resented her father for putting her in such a position as to be experimented on. She wished for nothing more than to be housed back in the old and familiar robotics she had been within for the past few years. The ones upgraded carefully over time to imitate growth as she aged. The ones that still resembled her. Not the monstrosity of advancements recently pushed upon her in the name of corporate marketing.</p><p>The accident that left her in a comatose state from a young age had prompted her family to action. Weiss had been thrilled to be conscious once more… at first… But having a body and consciousness was soon not enough for her father. Jacques had acquired several medical prosthetic companies and threw all of the money he could into research and development. Everything that existed needed to be developed further. Pushed to the limits. Nothing was good enough. This isn’t to say that his endeavors were with Weiss in mind. No. He was never so selfless in business. He simply took an interest in a growing market that happened to be shown to him through his daughter’s misfortune and saw the potential for a world-changing technology.</p><p>Weiss stepped to the side to allow a family to approach the edge while she still waited for the train. Seeing the family, two parents and a child, only reinforced how much she wished her family had been normal. Or at the very least caring. She could tell it was her hardware reacting to her mental stimuli, but she felt a sensation of loss in her stomach like she used to when she was fully human. All of these simulated sensations to help play the part of being another human being amongst the masses. </p><p>The final straw had been when her father demanded she go on tour to the technology expos all year. Being treated like a product, a test model, something to be paraded about and shown off, hooked up to digital readers for investors to see output numbers, panels removed to show off hardware… It was all too much. </p><p>She glanced back to the stairs and watched a moment as four more people descended. Thankfully they didn’t appear to be after her from what she could tell. Or, if they were, they weren’t making a move yet and Weiss was thankful for being able to secure a private room on the train. A locking room. Looking at the people who joined everyone else by the edge, waiting for the train, nobody looked like anyone her father would hire to reacquire her. Two men looked like businessmen and from the distance she was at, with her enhanced hearing, she could tell they were discussing a vid-series they were both into. A woman standing a bit further back leaned against a pillar and stared at her phone with headphones in. Three kids of varying ages joked with each other about something she didn’t quite understand. It had to be inside jokes of some sort. Her hearing picked up sound much further down the tunnel. Finally, the train was arriving. </p><p>As the transport vehicle slowed to a stop to allow passengers off, Weiss watched another three people descend the stairs and wait near the back. Two men and a woman all in suits, none of them saying a single thing. Their presence left her feeling uneasy. They weren’t making a move, so it’s possible they hadn’t noticed her just yet. She did her best to disguise herself, even going so far as to sneak a different face model and hair option, alongside a vastly different outfit than her typical skirts and blouses. Jeans and a tee-shirt with a dark jacket. Plus, taking the train meant she could hide in her room. The extra seven hours it would take to reach her destination was worth the privacy. </p><p>Weiss heard footsteps approaching. She shot a look at the people heading toward her only to see it being the family from before. Their room must be near hers and she relaxed again. The cooling system in her core kicked higher and she was relieved. The feeling was indescribable since she had no human body equivalent of sensations. In fact, Weiss could barely remember what having a flesh and bone body was like. The accident that caused her to need the artificial body happened when she was eleven, and she was loaded into her first starter body when she was twelve. In another two months, she realized she would have had an artificial body for a full half of her life. The thought made her huff in amusement, air pushed through her nostrils from a small pump located somewhere she wasn’t sure of anymore. Older models of herself had the air pumps in the chest, some had it in the throat, one model had it located in her head, and at least two had the pump somewhere near her left shoulder for some reason. She wasn’t sure why they had bothered with it outside of aesthetic purposes to simulate being human. </p><p>Garbled words sounded out over speakers that Weiss interpreted as the okay to board the train. She made her way into the car and glanced around to check the room numbers before spotting hers. When she entered, she turned and locked the door behind her just in case, and set her bag on the small bed to the left of the cabin. Soon she would be on her way to Winter and would be able to be free of her father.</p>
<hr class="solid"/><p>KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK</p><p>“Ma’am?” a woman’s voice called out, sounding muffled from the other side of the door. </p><p>Weiss woke from her standby state, lamenting the end to the strange daydream she was having. Perhaps daydream was too generous in describing it, she thought. Her mind wandered fairly far when she went into standby, often falling down into the depths of her imagination. Music and colors, simple imagery of objects. Sometimes people or voices. They all blended together into one large sensory experience. The scientists weren’t able to fully explain why her mind wandered in such ways when, for all intents and purposes, her consciousness should exist more as software loaded into the machinery and less like an actual human brain. It didn’t matter, though, since she doubted she could really explain everything to the still human scientists. More knocking pulled her attention and she realized what it was that brought her out of standby. </p><p>“Yes?” Weiss asked and looked at the door. </p><p>“We’ll be arriving at the station in ten minutes,” came the response. “Please open your door and have everything ready.”</p><p>Odd. This was typically the type of thing that got announced over the intercoms rather than shared door-to-door. Weiss glanced at the digital panel set in the wall and saw that it was rather early for the train to be reaching the destination. By her estimations, the ride still had two hours to go. Whatever it was the person on the other side of the door had in mind, she wasn’t sure since it seemed to make no sense. What would calling her awake early do? She wasn’t going to leave the private room until the train was stopped, and she already had all of her things still packed. </p><p>“Thank you,” Weiss replied and waited to see what the person would do next. She didn’t have to wait long since almost immediately it seemed the person tried jostling the door to get it open. The metal door didn’t slide open, having been digitally and physically locked. Without the train master keycard and master key, the door wasn’t going to budge from the other side. “I’ll come out when we arrive, thank you.”</p><p>She pulled her phone from her pocket and sent a message to Winter after double-checking the train route and location. Just as she thought, the train still had two hours to go before arriving at the Mistral station.</p><p>‘I think father’s people are onto me.’</p><p>Within seconds, a reply came. ‘Are you safe?’</p><p>‘Currently, I believe I am, but someone is trying to get into my room.’ Weiss looked at the door again which wasn’t budging. Murmured voices from the other side that even her better hearing couldn’t pick up confused her, and the sound of… Was that a scuffle? </p><p>“Are you alright, miss?” Another woman’s voice from the other side of the door crackled through the small speaker in the door panel. The voice was familiar, at least, and Weiss could tell she at least worked for the transit company. Or was she an AI bot the rail system used?</p><p>Weiss stood from the bed and walked to the window, adjusting the tint with a slide of her finger over a sensor, and saw, as expected, the lights from the underground tunnel whizzing by at dizzying speeds. She stepped back to the door and pressed the intercom button. “I am, thank you.”</p><p>“We apologize for the disturbance and hope this hasn’t affected your journey.”</p><p>Definitely an AI bot. The delivery of that line alone brought memories of countless business trips to the surface of Weiss’ consciousness. She checked her phone to see what Winter had said in response. </p><p>‘I’m following your train through their app. Please keep me updated.’</p><p>Winter’s formality in all forms of communication outside of face-to-face amused Weiss, though the moment was not the right time to reflect on that. Weiss tapped out a response, the joints in her thumbs letting out a quiet whirring from the speed she typed. ‘Train security took care of it from the sounds of it. Please meet me at the station, though. There were three people that I had a bad feeling about.’</p><p>‘Of course. And did you install the communications jammer as I showed you?’</p><p>‘I did once I found the correct panel to open. This model has the ports for that all on the back, below where the ribs would be. It wasn’t easy to get to on my own.’ Weiss remembered the half-hour she spent looking in the mirror trying to get access to the correct wires to attach the makeshift device Winter sent her. If it worked, whatever spyware and tracking devices installed in the body she inhabited would be disrupted and buy her enough time for Winter to remove everything from her systems. </p><p>‘Good. We will stop by the shop after I pick you up so we can get you checked over.’</p><p>Weiss felt sensations rise in her lower abdomen that reminded her of the gentleness of butterfly wings flapping. The emotion was… Happiness? Giddiness? It was different than her usual range of feelings she experienced the past number of years. The feeling was pleasant. ‘Thank you, Winter.’</p><p>‘Of course, Weiss. You’ll be free soon. I promise.’</p>
<hr class="solid"/><p>Just as she feared, the three who made her uneasy at the first station followed Weiss closely as she left the train. She tried to keep close to the other passengers exiting the car, getting lost in the crowd, but it was no use. With her bag in her hands, she stepped off the train and onto the platform. She could see Winter standing near the stairs looking over the crowd for her. The different face she wore and the dark brown hair she temporarily gave herself to better blend in must have been rather convincing for a disguise since Winter looked right at her and kept glancing around. </p><p>One of the two men walked quicker to be in step with her while the woman moved to her other side. The second man kept close behind her and in a space of seconds, they acted as one. The woman grabbed for Weiss’ bag from her hands, the man behind her grabbed her by the jacket, and the other man stepped directly in front of her. </p><p>“Hey!” Weiss called out and her voice caught Winter’s attention. She took a second to view the scene and sprang into action, tripping the woman as she got to the stairs and scooped her sister’s bag up. Seeing their third fail to get away, the two men split and disappeared into the crowd. </p><p>“Stupid thieves,” Winter sighed. Weiss heard her voice before she saw her again and was startled when Winter was right in front of her. She had been too busy trying to see where the three disappeared to. </p><p>“Winter!” Weiss cried out and hugged her sister tightly. </p><p>“Baby sister,” Winter smiled. “Were those the ones that were giving you trouble on the train?”</p><p>Weiss nodded, still not letting go of Winter just yet. “I feel a bit better knowing they were only trying to rob me and not drag me back.”</p><p>“Me, too. Though, we should hurry and get out of here just in case.” Winter moved to take a step back and Weiss reluctantly let her go. </p><p>“The sooner we clear my body the better I’ll feel,” Weiss admitted. She walked close to Winter, feeling safer in the crowd with her sister there. “I’m happy to see you again.”</p><p>“I’m happy to see you, too. Though, I am a bit surprised by the lengths you went to avoid being recognized. The height adjustment and full body-work you went through seems a bit excessive, though.” Winter glanced at Weiss beside her. </p><p>“About that…” Weiss mumbled. “I only did the hair and face. The rest was done by father’s company to ‘show off’ and model new lines of parts. It happened only last week for the medical supply show happening next week.” She could sense her sister tense up at learning that. Her distaste for their father was exactly what drove her away from the rest of the family. Weiss felt thankful that she didn’t abandon her, though, and helped plan her escape when she reached out. </p><p>“Well, you don’t have to go through any more modifications to be paraded about anymore. We can get you fit into the body you want if you’re unhappy with this one.”</p><p>“Please. I hate this one. I hate it so much,” Weiss groaned and leaned to the side to nudge Winter with her shoulder. “I had to talk them out of going bigger. They wanted to make me even taller.” She heard Winter suppress a laugh at the comment. The two had reached the top of the stairs and exited the station. Outside, the city loomed overhead and the night sky looked illuminated by the city lights. </p><p>Vehicles sped past and Winter guided Weiss around a corner to the station parking area. “We can sort that all out later. First, let’s debug you and head back to my place.”</p><p>Weiss silently agreed, offering a nod in reply as she climbed into Winter’s car. Her sister set her bag on the backseat and got into the driver seat. A simple button press and the vehicle came to life. “Forty-third and eighth,” she told it and they were off.</p>
<hr class="solid"/><p>Weiss sat in a repurposed masseuse chair, staring at the floor with her shirt over her shoulders while Winter worked on her. The panel below her ribs on her back hadn’t been the only spot needing to be accessed. Another panel on her right hip had to be pried open for the interface connectors to be accessed. Winter wheeled back and forth between her workbench and Weiss on her rolling shop stool. </p><p>“They really did a number on you with these upgrades, Weiss,” Winter mumbled as she leaned in to inspect the connectors available. It didn’t take her long to find the ports she needed and hooked up a digital reader. “And it looks like there was a shelf life on some of these parts. They didn’t get the heat dispersion units properly mounted back here, not to mention some of them are insufficient for long-term use. It’s lucky you didn’t melt through your synth-skin back here.”</p><p>“You know I know very little about the technical parts of this all, right?” Weiss snarked. “Being a self-aware pile of machinery doesn’t necessarily mean I’m smart.”</p><p>Winter poked Weiss in the side. “Enough of that. I can teach you later,” she laughed. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the tutors father hired weren’t teaching you anything useful.”</p><p>“Bare necessities to pass government school standardization requirements. The rest was etiquette, social conduct, and corporate information for expos and shows. I stopped being a person the day I fell into a coma,” Weiss sighed. </p><p>“Makes sense,” Winter scoffed and rolled her eyes and scooted to her workbench again to grab a pair of magnifiers and a few tools. “Well, I’m glad you’re here now. I’ll make sure you’re given a fair chance. Almost done, by the way.”</p><p>Weiss lifted her head to look back at Winter as she rolled the stool behind her again. “How bad is it?” She could tell from all of Winter’s frustrated hums and sighs as she went through her hardware that it wasn’t good. </p><p>“Not as bad as I was expecting. Seems they went cheap on the security on your parts, probably since they had a tracker manually installed. That part I had you install disabled it, thankfully.” Winter picked up a small piece and showed it to Weiss. Weiss didn’t recognize the little chip looking piece with three small wires coming off of it and had to take Winter’s word for what it was. “The rest is being scanned and powered down right now, and I’m going to at least get the heat dispersal functional enough so you won’t melt until we can get you better outfitted with a new body if you want.”</p><p>“Please. Like I want to stay in this mess,” Weiss snorted. “At least tell me we can use my old cosmetic plates. I took what I could in my bag. Hairs and faces and just… I can’t remember what. I want to at least look like me. The me I remember.” Her tone of voice betrayed her hopelessness.</p><p>“It’ll be alright, Weiss,” Winter reassured her and placed a hand on her back, rubbing small circles up and down it as she used to when the two of them were much younger. “We’ll get you sorted out.”</p><p>Weiss had to admit that she missed the feeling, even if it was simply sensors woven into synth-skin sending signals through her processors, or whatever happened to the signals when her body sensed things from external stimuli. She thought about how she really should look into learning how her body worked and the finer details of mechanosthetics if that was even the word. She couldn’t remember if that was even a word, or if it was simply something she thought of while being taken on tour. Her lack of knowledge about all of it frustrated her. She didn’t even know the right terms for what she even was let alone how to talk about herself and her experiences. Just the tired speeches and prepared responses she had been trained to repeat. She sighed and heard a hum emanate from her back out of one of the plates Winter had open. “Thank you,” she mumbled and leaned forward again to stare at the floor.</p><p>The machine Winter hooked Weiss up to beeped and Weiss didn’t bother looking. It sounded similar to the terminals that she found herself attached to back in the company labs when they finished their scans and tests. </p><p>“You are officially bug-free. Hardware and software. I’ll just finish reconnecting these solder points and close you up and we can head back to my place,” Winter told her and Weiss closed her eyes, opting to go into standby while her sister worked. The comforting knowledge that she was in the hands of someone she trusted allowed her to be at ease for the first time in longer than she could remember.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Weiss woke from standby mode in an unfamiliar location and in unfamiliar clothes. She searched around her for her phone but didn’t see it, or her suitcase. She remembered going into standby at Winter’s shop, but that was it. Nothing came to mind after. If Winter had rebooted her, she would have told her beforehand. Right? Of course, she would. There was no sense in questioning Winter’s actions and motives presently. The important part was to figure out where she was. </p>
<p>“Winter?” Weiss asked aloud and looked around the room, finally observing all of the details. She could already feel the difference from having her heat dispersal systems tuned up to actual functioning order since she wasn’t feeling overheated despite the room temperature being above what her room at the mansion was set at. Speaking of, she could safely say the room she was in was not one at the mansion, so she was safe on that front. </p>
<p>She presently sat on a padded chair in a living room of some sort. A sofa sat to her right, backed against a wall, with a short table in front of it covered in neatly stacked books and document folders. It was strange to see so much paper in one location considering most everything had gone digital. Across from the couch, and to her left, a display screen adorned the wall, mounted in place. Judging by the lack of any other furniture in the room, Weiss concluded that whoever lived there didn’t spend a lot of time entertaining or doing many leisurely things. Most likely Winter. In fact, looking again with a renewed focus, she could make out Winter’s name on one of the folders on the table. </p>
<p>Weiss stood from the chair and looked around, noting a short hallway with three doors. It was safe to assume one of them led to the restroom, and one of them had to be a bedroom. Winter’s bedroom. And the other would go… Weiss wasn’t sure. </p>
<p>She walked down the hall and the first door she passed startled her. The mirror inside reflected her darkened image and she didn’t recognize herself. The face and hair she gave herself in an effort to escape, combined with the added height forced upon her, she felt… She wasn’t sure. Something about the image of her reflection stirred something in her that she didn’t have words to express. Weiss stepped inside and the light turned on automatically. Whatever sensor system Winter had installed picked up android-type lifeforms at least. In the light, she could really see the poor patch job she did in applying the cosmetic changes to herself. The seam along her neck didn’t quite match as well as it should, especially given her poor skills with working on herself. At least the face itself was centered and pulled into place accurately enough. Her hair was another thing entirely, though. Along her scalp line, the tone of the synth-skin of the hairpiece and her face didn’t quite match so it became obvious she was mismatched and poorly put together. </p>
<p>It took all of her patience and self-control to not go tearing at the face and hair to remove them. If the chassis beneath didn’t make her feel worse about herself, she would have done so. Instead, Weiss leaned forward and tried to gently tug and adjust the skins and line them up better. She didn’t even use the proper adhesive when she did the butcher job to herself. At least… At least Winter could help her. She just had to have patience. She was free from her father and free from the Schnee Corp. </p>
<p>Feeling she did a good enough job adjusting her skin, she left the bathroom and turned toward the other two doors further down the hall. One on the left side of the hall, and one on the right side. Both doors were closed and, if she were to guess, it was late at night. The question of which door came first, and it was followed by asking if she should knock or enter looking for Winter. The answers came quickly to her when the door on her right opened and Winter nearly crashed into her exiting what looked like an office. </p>
<p>“Weiss! Jeez. Gave me a shock. Are you alright?”</p>
<p>Weiss nodded and could feel the hum in her chest of her hardware kicking into gear at the pseudo-adrenaline response, but settled shortly after when Winter smiled at her. “I’m sorry. I was simply coming to look for you.”</p>
<p>“It’s alright. I was going to do the same for you. I wasn’t sure how long you would be in sleep mode. It seemed the scans and changes we did at the shop made your systems automatically restart and perform a systems analysis. How are you feeling, though?” Winter furrowed her brow in thought while watching her sister for any changes in expression.</p>
<p>“Relieved now that I know what happened,” Weiss answered truthfully. “The engineers at the lab would never warn me when they went to reboot me or place me in stasis. I’d just-” Weiss shuddered thinking about it. Or, more accurately, she felt her system cause her body to shudder at the revulsion feeling created by her mental systems. Everything was systems and electrical impulses and machinery and she longed for sharing that human experience with others. On some level, she knew that people were systems and electrical impulses, too, but the distinction between manufactured and organic felt important to her since she felt she missed out on so much. She also didn’t have anyone to relate to. People fully cybernetic were few and far between. More commonly, the full androids tended to be robotic workers in service industries. In fact, Weiss hadn’t met another full robot with bodily autonomy. </p>
<p>Winter frowned when she heard the words from Weiss. She pulled her sister close and wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug. “I’m sorry, Weiss,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for not getting you out of there sooner.”</p>
<p>Weiss stayed quiet. It was strange being hugged so much, even if it was only twice that day. She didn’t hate the experience. On the contrary. She loved the feeling and how connected she felt in an embrace. She missed Winter more than she thought she did. All of the years spent apart left her feeling empty and emotionally closed off, but being back with Winter… Weiss had a glimmer of hope and she held onto it.</p>
<hr class="solid"/>
<p>Her sister let her borrow a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top and Weiss was only mildly surprised to find out they fit her well enough to not drape off of her frame. It painfully reinforced the extent of the upgrades she received the previous week. She kept her eyes closed and tried to get comfortable on the foldout bed in Winter’s living room, readjusting the pillow, but that didn’t seem to be the issue. With Winter leaving her bedroom door open should Weiss need her for anything, Weiss could hear the sounds of her sister shifting on her bed echo down the hall. She anticipated feeling annoyed at such a sound, finding it hard to enter and stay in standby, but it was a comforting noise. </p>
<p>Weiss realized the real issue she wasn’t able to get comfortable was that she didn’t want to enter standby. She didn’t exactly want to do anything else but lay in the dark with her thoughts. Her racing thoughts. Winter had admitted to placing Weiss’ phone in a jammer box she built just in case it was bugged and promised to get her signed up under her own plan the next day. The loss was nothing to Weiss. The one she had used when she left happened to be a burner she bought before her trip, and she felt no attachment to the one she left behind. She didn’t have any friends because she wasn’t allowed to have them. Or given any time to be social and make them. She had no photos or videos she wanted to be saved from the device. She had no emails or other accounts that were made for her outside of those necessary to operate the phone. </p>
<p>The more thought that went into it, the more Weiss ruminated and stewed on her fears, the longer she went without anyone to talk her out of the cyclical spiral of distress, she worried that it was almost certain that her father had tracked her to her sister. The only part she couldn’t figure out is why she wasn’t picked up and brought back yet. Perhaps the fear of being under the Schnee Corp rule for so long left her doubtful of ever being able to escape, and Winter was right in saying she was free. Her thoughts seemed to be against her and hopelessness settled into her chest. Why the ability to feel despair had been programmed into her body she didn’t know, but Weiss was upset about it. </p>
<p>Schnee Corp’s body replacements boasted a whole range of emotions and bodily sensations to offer the human experience when someone wound up needing to be less than human. Marketed as a medical miracle, a flex of power over nature, a step into the future. Weiss recalled the taglines she was made to recite during shows while feeling grossly exposed on stage. Company PR showrunners plugged into the ports on her back so people in the audience could see whatever numbers her hardware put out. All the “oohs” and applause from the crowd a white noise that she focused on to disappear from the moment. Reciting speeches, answering the same audience questions day after day after day with rehearsed responses. The coaching of how to pretend to be a happy and thankful daughter for the new chance at life her wonderful and compassionate and generous father gave her. </p>
<p>Weiss opened her eyes to escape the vivid replayed memory. </p>
<p>Air pushed out in a sigh and Weiss closed her eyes again to force enter standby so she could avoid her thoughts.</p>
<hr class="solid"/>
<p>“Weiss?” </p>
<p>Weiss opened her eyes. Winter’s voice pulled her from standby and the first thing she noticed was how light the apartment seemed to be compared to how dark it was the night before. The second thing she noticed was Winter standing over her with a soft smile on her face. </p>
<p>“I need to head to work in a little bit and I thought you may want to go with me. I placed an order for a new phone for you and it should be arriving at the shop later today.”</p>
<p>Weiss sat up and frowned. She remembered the events of the day before in near-perfect clarity, save for the period of time her body spent rebooting, and the thoughts of the night before came back to her. “Can we fix…” Weiss motioned to her head.</p>
<p>“We can swap out your face and hair,” Winter reassured her. “I’ll take a look through what you managed to bring and see what I can do. Worst case, we find something else for you to use. There’s options I have in the shop that at least match your normal hair color, and Penny is pretty good about recreating faces.”</p>
<p>“Penny?” Weiss asked. Who was Penny? Winter had never mentioned her before and she was curious who this person was. If getting her new phone and having her face and hair fixed wasn’t incentive enough, getting to learn more about her sister and who she hung around with definitely had her interest. </p>
<p>“Mm, I think you’d like her. She works there with me,” Winter answered with a smile. “Time to get dressed, though. I wasn’t sure what you wanted to wear, so I pulled out some stuff that I think would fit you, and I cleaned your clothes from yesterday.”</p>
<p>“Right, right,” Weiss mumbled and got up from the bed. As soon as she stood, the height difference between her and her sister hit her again. She was definitely too tall and didn’t like it, and rather than stop to hug her sister like she really wanted to do, she rushed to the restroom to see the clothes laid out for her. Too many questions filled her head. Too many fears, too many unknowns, too many variables for the situation. She cursed not having a better education to properly assess things. It was bad enough relying on her father for everything before, but going directly to having to rely on Winter made her feel helpless. </p>
<p>Stepping through the doorway and being greeted by the mirror once more tugged a sigh from her. Human reactions to make her feel human, but it wouldn’t bridge that gap between organic and inorganic. Human and machine. And being the world’s most recognized android had a whole other set of issues. Her image became the property of the Schnee Corp long ago when they put her into that first replacement body. All of the upgrades and age progressions were what they imagined she should look like. Glammed and glitzed up. Dressed up like a doll in pretty dresses, fine skirts with designer blouses. Heels. Always high heels. Never a sensible pair of flats, but heels that made her already tall figure even taller. The long hair and makeup presented her as a supermodel.</p>
<p>Looking at the clothes in the bathroom, Weiss spotted a black skirt and picked it up. Winter owned a skirt? She couldn’t picture her older sister even wearing it and questioned why she even owned it. Though, trying to picture Winter wearing such a thing amused her. Even back at home, she refused to wear dresses and skirts, opting for jeans whenever she could. Weiss wasn’t sure, but those memories could be why she felt so drawn to wearing jeans as well. She set the skirt aside and located the pair she wore the day before. She felt it a shame they wouldn’t fit her once she switched to her new body later on, whenever that would be. </p>
<p>She looked through the shirts offered to her and settled on a more fitted tee-shirt. The black fabric stretched over her form and Weiss had to admit that the look was a good one. A little more arm than she was used to showing off, but considering it was Winter’s shirt, she shouldn’t be surprised. It seemed all she owned happened to be tank tops and tee shirts from all the times she saw her in the past. </p>
<p>Growing up at the mansion, her older sister’s fascination with old automobiles that still ran on outdated fuel sources seemed like an eccentric quirk that was expected of the child of a wealthy family. Weiss could remember her father having his own collection of wooden antiques for his office that he took pride in. The desk, the chairs, bookshelves, all of it. But when it became apparent Winter’s interest in things went past eccentricities associated with the rich, their father grew concerned with her attire. The sleeveless shirts, the torn jeans, the boots, the hair always tied back while she worked and tinkered. The final straw was when Winter demanded to go into school for engineering rather than business and their father sold all of her cars, tools, and had the garage demolished. </p>
<p>Weiss looked around the room to pull herself back to the moment again. Her memories felt so vivid and she hated getting lost in them for so long since they almost always were unpleasant, and despite having machinery instead of tissue, she couldn’t figure out a way to remove them. That would require an actual education in things not advertisement related, and gods forbid her family let her have one of those. </p>
<p>She remembered what she was doing and did a once more over herself in the mirror. She would have to go clothing shopping after they built her new body, but that wasn’t a bad thing. On the plus side, she only had to worry about wear and tear of clothes since it’s not like she ran the risk of staining it with food, and she no longer perspired or anything else that typical human bodies did that could shorten the life of clothing. Learning that over the years had been one pleasant surprise to the entire situation, though it didn’t really make up for all of the downsides in her mind. </p>
<p>Weiss finally slipped on a pair of socks and left the bathroom to put her shoes on and get ready to leave. </p>
<p>“Baby sister,” Winter said and Weiss could hear the smirk in her voice. “Like your shirt.” </p>
<p>“Oh shush it,” Weiss huffed and looked near the door for her shoes. “But, thank you.” She slipped her feet into her shoes and knelt down to tie them while Winter approached from behind with a bag slung over her shoulder. </p>
<p>“Your suitcase is at the shop. I haven’t looked at any of it yet. I figured we could do that today.”</p>
<p>Standing up, Weiss turned and smiled at Winter. The urge to hug her again flashed through her mind but she held back. She didn’t know why that happened. Schnees weren’t physically affectionate with anyone. It was painfully drilled into her for as long as she could remember, but there it was again. She folded her arms over her chest instead. “Ready to go.”</p>
<p>“Good. Let’s head out.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The current plan for this is to upload chapters as I finish them. So, as a heads up, the upload schedule won't be super consistent. </p>
<p>Things will be looking up for Weiss soon enough. Don't worry.<br/>Also, look forward to Penny next chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The view outside Winter’s apartment amazed Weiss. Back in Atlas, yes, the family mansion had incredible views that offered rare views out over gorgeous grounds, the mountains of the snowy region, and if her father took her to the company offices, she could look out over Mantle and see the lit city streets. But in Mistral, the world looked an extra bit vibrant. The dreary and cold world of the north didn’t weigh heavy over everyone year-round. But the part that amazed her the most was stepping outside the apartment to gaze out of the building windows and see an entire city rise up around her. Even being on a floor in the mid-double-digits, seeing buildings still rise higher and farther wherever she looked… She loved it. Being down on the street level didn’t quite afford the same sense of how vast the city spread, at least night from what she could remember of the night prior. Though, Weiss admitted to herself that she had been rather distracted on the ride from the train station to Winter’s work. </p>
<p>Weiss felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Winter standing next to her. “Come on. Elevator to the garage is this way.” She nodded her head to the side, motioning down the hall. </p>
<p>“Right,” Weiss mumbled and followed behind her. She couldn’t help the slight smile that spread on her face. Despite everything else on her mind, she felt comforted being with her sister again. A thought occurred to her and she felt she needed to ask. “Do you only have the modern car?”</p>
<p>“Hmm?” Winter hummed and slowed down for Weiss to catch up and walk beside her. “For now, at least. Why do you ask?”</p>
<p>Weiss frowned. “It’s just…” she paused. “Back at the mansion, you had all those other ones. I just figured you’d have one of those instead of the self-driving ones.” </p>
<p>Winter snorted in amusement. “Baby sister,” she grinned. “Those are way outside my price range, though I am rebuilding one. Well, trying to. Parts are difficult to come by now. Anyway, I can show you later.” She nudged Weiss with her shoulder. “Why the sudden interest, though?”</p>
<p>“I was just thinking about it is all. Back before, when I was, well… You know.” Weiss sighed and looked at her sister. “Back when you were still at the mansion. All the times I’d spend with you in your garage watching you work.”</p>
<p>“Mm,” Winter hummed. “Was a shame father got rid of all of those, huh? Can’t say I’m unhappy where I ended up, though. Just wish I could have taken you with me when I went.”</p>
<p>Weiss leaned against Winter when the two stopped in front of the elevator waiting for it to arrive. She thought about how different things could have been if they stayed together and she didn’t have to work for her father. She thought about it a lot. Escaping into her imagination happened to be one of the few methods of coping with her reality when she was dragged from venue to venue, or between her bedroom at the mansion and the Schnee Corp labs. The arm that wrapped around her left her feeling safe and acted as a reminder that she was away from that mess. She was staying with Winter. </p>
<p>DING.</p>
<p>Elevator doors slid open to reveal a brightly lit elevator car, a roomier one than she initially imagined. Much roomier than the private and personal ones her father took her through at the company buildings to access the labs below, hiding away from the eyes of those low on the company payroll. Weiss felt something about everything at the Schnee Corp seemed odd, but she couldn’t place a finger on it. Only being away from the mansion and seeing more of the world, even the brief glimpses she saw thus far, left her feeling slighted. </p>
<p>Winter pulled Weiss along into the elevator. “You alright? Seem a little spacey today.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just a lot of things to process.” She watched her sister press the garage button and the doors closed. Only the gentlest of hums filled the silence as the elevator car descended floor after floor. Her sensors picked up the rapid speed and made adjustments so she kept her balance. As a child, she remembered the feeling of losing her footing in the large elevators. She remembered actually feeling dizzy from things. They never seemed like things she would miss, but here she was, missing them. </p>
<p>The brakes kicked in and slowed their descent, causing Winter to shift her balance to keep upright, but Weiss remained still thanks to the internal counterbalances built in to compensate for such environmental shifts. Moments after, the doors opened to show a seemingly endless lot of cars. Weiss followed her sister out of the elevator and through the paths of very same-looking vehicles, only varying in color. It didn’t take long for Winter to locate her car, the only one with aesthetic customizations aside from paint color. Chrome bumpers on the front and back of it accompanied by the grill and headlight changes left it looking, Weiss had to admit, a bit silly. </p>
<p>“The front of your car looks like a face,” Weiss laughed. </p>
<p>“I’ll admit, it looks a bit odd, but the rounded design of these modern ones reminded me a bit of some of the old ones. I figured I could play around with it some. I’m thinking of repainting the upper panels a lighter shade to contrast with the black lower side panels.”</p>
<p>Weiss rolled her eyes. “If you think that will look any better, go for it. I think it looks weird.”</p>
<p>Winter grinned. “You don’t appreciate my eye for details.”</p>
<p>Reaching out to open the car door and climb in, Weiss shrugged. “Hopefully that eye for details is enough to get me looking normal again.”</p>
<p>Winter climbed into the driver seat and pressed a button to bring the machine to life. “Forty-third and eighth,” she announced and the vehicle took off.</p>
<hr class="solid"/>
<p>“Sal-u-tations, friend Winter!” </p>
<p>Weiss was immediately taken aback by the girl’s energy and speed at which she rushed her sister, grabbing her into a hug that looked if Weiss was honest, painful. The girl looked to be quite strong as well, lifting Winter off of her feet while she leaned back. </p>
<p>“Nng, Penny, can you let me down, please?” Winter managed to get out before Penny set her back down. </p>
<p>“Who is this with you?” The girl looked at Weiss with wide green eyes while still smiling. “My name is Penny! It is a pleasure to meet you.”</p>
<p>“This is Weiss. I told you my sister was coming to stay with me, remember?” Winter stepped into the conversation before it got too far. Weiss felt thankful for that since she wasn’t quite sure what to make of the girl just yet. Penny seemed… Very friendly. And it felt off-putting for some reason. </p>
<p>“Weiss, the robot, like me!” Penny chirped and bounced on the balls of her feet, looking between Winter and Weiss excitedly. </p>
<p>Weiss shrank back a little at the nonchalant attitude Penny had about it. If it wasn’t for her own self-deprecating views, she would feel more inclined to stick up for herself. Who even was this girl? Was she another person stuck in a body replacement due to unfortunate circumstances? Was she another service industry robot, or possibly a fabled AI with personal autonomy? She frowned and folded her arms over her chest to hug herself and feel smaller. The feeling of envy at Penny’s stature and cuteness stabbed at her. </p>
<p>“Go ahead and find a seat in the work area,” Winter told Weiss and placed her hand on the middle of her back to give it a reassuring rub. “We can look over what you brought in a minute.” </p>
<p>Weiss nodded and headed in the direction of what she assumed was Winter’s workspace considering it was where they were the night before. Taking a better look around, she noticed little personal touches to confirm her assumption. The coat hooks on the wall with a jean jacket that looked too big for Penny. The magnifiers she wore the night before. But, the piece that really sold it for her was the framed photograph of her and Winter when they were kids. Printed on glossy paper and in an actual wooden frame. The cost of such a thing had to be high if she remembered anything of her father’s frivolous collections of antiques. Seeing her still have at least something of her- human her- was… Well, Weiss wasn’t human anymore. She would never be human, and that fact wiggled its way into her mind once more. She wouldn’t be the way she used to be. She wouldn’t be- </p>
<p>“Sorry about that,” Winter laughed when she approached. “Penny can be quite enthusiastic. Very sweet, though.”</p>
<p>“Um… Yeah,” Weiss mumbled and turned to her sister, thoughts interrupted. “What do we do now?”</p>
<p>Winter stretched and set her bag on the workbench. “Well…” She knelt down and shifted a couple of boxes out of the way on the shelves below to reveal the suitcase Weiss had brought with her. The familiar handle and latches being dragged into view under the bright workshop lighting. “I figure we can see what we’re working with while Penny handles some of the commission orders for now. I know how much this is bugging you.” She smiled back over her shoulder at Weiss while pulling the suitcase out and heaving it up on the bench. </p>
<p>The acrylic shell covering the metal body looked bright white, glossy, and had the Schnee Corp logo on the side in a matte finish of the same color. The whole thing looked sleek and stylish, just like the company prided itself on being. Only the finest. Flipping the latches, Winter opened the clamshell case to show the red plush interior poking up between disturbing piles of synth-skin faces. To an unknowing observer, the scene looked gruesome. </p>
<p>Weiss stepped behind her sister and glanced at the pile of skins. “So…?” she asked cautiously. </p>
<p>“How- how many are even in here?” Winter furrowed her brow and turned to face Weiss. </p>
<p>“I’m not sure. I grabbed everything from the travel kits left in my room. And the hair options should be in the inside pocket. I didn’t want them to get tangled or knotted being jostled around.” Weiss pointed to the pocket in the lid. </p>
<p>Winter turned back to the case and picked a skin up with a grimace. She picked up another to look it over. And another. “Weiss,” she spoke, her voice soft with an undertone of pity. “These all have permanent thick makeup printed on. Is this really what you want?”</p>
<p>Weiss didn’t know how to answer. The faces were better than what she had at present, but looking at them with someone else, especially someone who cared about her, the look of them made reactions happen that felt like twisting sensations in her stomach. She felt as sick looking at them as she did seeing her current disguise of a face. “I don’t know,” she admitted, voice barely above a whisper. “But, it’s better than what I have right now. I can’t deal with how I look right now. I hate it. I hate it so much.”</p>
<p>“Shh, come here. It’s okay,” Winter cooed and dropped the synth-skins in the case and opened her arms for Weiss to step into. Weiss hesitated, unsure if she even should, and in the few seconds she was unsure, Winter stepped closer and pulled her into a hug. “How about this? We can use one of these for now if you want. I can get one of these and your hair swapped out quickly, and when Penny and I finish the jobs due today, you and she can work on designing something you’ll be happy with.”</p>
<p>Weiss closed her eyes and thought the offer over. </p>
<p>“She can easily get a scan and clean one up if you want, or design something different. When I said Penny was good at this, I meant it. Scouted her myself just for her skill.” Winter rubbed her hand over Weiss’ back. “I trust her completely.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Weiss finally agreed and nodded.</p>
<hr class="solid"/>
<p>Just as Winter promised, a new phone arrived at the shop via courier. It took Weiss a while to set it up and create new accounts while syncing to Winter’s plan. Taking a break from repairing a limb for someone, her older sister set her up with an assortment of apps to get started with. The device certainly was a huge step up from the one she had purchased before traveling. Weiss didn’t know, but she thought it might be the same model as the one she had back at the mansion. Her father never gave her the newest or the best devices, opting for the previous model, or simply giving her hand-me-down devices he no longer used. But this one… It was new. The same model as Winter, too. It was fully hers. And without the restrictions installed on it like her old one, she had much more freedom to look anything up she wanted. </p>
<p>“Thank you,” Weiss grinned and held the phone to her chest. </p>
<p>“Of course, baby sister. You’re welcome.” Winter placed a hand on Weiss’ shoulder and rubbed it while Weiss sat on a chair in Winter’s work area. </p>
<p>No matter how many times she questioned everything, Weiss always managed to remind herself that she was in the present. Everything was real and she was actually with her sister. She escaped the mansion. She escaped her father. She tried to escape into many fantasies about being away from everything and with Winter again while being transported from city to city. Transport allowed her a reprieve from any and all testings, scans, and lessons. The farther they needed to travel the better since she occupied her thoughts in a more hopeful manner. The details of her fantasies never involved idly sitting inside a workshop while her sister worked, but she felt almost the same in them as she did then. A sense of relief that things were okay for the time being. </p>
<p>It wasn’t long before she pulled herself back to the moment and noticed what originally gave her pause. “Hey, Winter?” Weiss asked. She glanced up from the device in her hands and over to where her sister resumed working.</p>
<p>“Hmm? What is it?” her sister turned to look at her. </p>
<p>“Father isn’t going to find me because of this, is he?” Weiss held up the phone in her hand. “He always said he would find me if I ever left.”</p>
<p>“I guarantee you he won’t. Even if you posted your name publicly for people to see, your name is well known enough that there are plenty of people imitating your look and name out in the world,” Winter reassured her. “You can essentially hide in plain sight. Though, it will be easier when we get you outfitted with a different body.”</p>
<p>Being told many others looked like she did kicked her systems into gear. If she could get anxious, she would. Instead, her body momentarily shut down unimportant processes and diverted all energy available to running environmental sensors ash she fought through countless thoughts. Weiss felt ill thanks to parts of her body shutting down and the look of discomfort must have alerted Winter since she approached. Was this the equivalent to a machine panic attack? Her body ran hot and it seemed as if the world moved slower than normal. </p>
<p>Each second felt like a minute. And five perceived minutes passed before she looked up at her sister. Fifteen perceived minutes passed before Weiss acknowledged that it was possible she was thinking entirely too fast for her body to handle. And it was half an hour of perceived time before her body’s heat dispersion reacted accordingly. Why did others want to look like that… that… sexualized doll? Her. That was her. She was the doll that Schnee Corp created to sell their products. </p>
<p>“You’re okay. You’re okay.” Winter repeated the phrase over and over again to Weiss. </p>
<p>As each individual sounds processed and meaning grew attached to the noise, her eyes focused on Winter’s face. Weiss knew enough to trust her sister, and the fact Winter said she was okay meant she had to be. She repeated the sounds formed words in her mind over and over again. She was okay. She was okay. </p>
<p>“You’re safe here. I promise,” Winter smiled and rubbed her hand over Weiss’ back. “If you want, you can enter standby and I’ll get you when we can start on your designs.”</p>
<p>Weiss contemplated the idea. As much as she wanted to be awake with Winter, the idea of skipping ahead did sound more appealing to her than being left alone with her thoughts.</p>
<hr class="solid"/>
<p>“Hey,” a whisper sounded next to Weiss. The sound processed a second before the word was repeated. “Hey,” came the voice again. She recognized the speaker and opened her eyes to see Winter crouched next to her. “Penny is ready for you. She’ll get your face and hair taken care of. I need to finish up a couple orders and then I can get measurements to begin designing your new body.” </p>
<p>Weiss looked around and noticed that only a couple of hours had passed. “Alright, um, what do I-”</p>
<p>“Friend Weiss!” Penny chirped as she rounded the corner of the room divider to Winter’s workspace. “I am ready to begin work on remaking your face.” </p>
<p>Winter smiled and stood up from her position and leaned over to grab the faces that Weiss brought with her. “Here, Penny. These are what we have now, and-” she paused while reaching to grab the framed photo of her and Weiss when they were younger. “This is Weiss when she was about ten. When she was human still. See what you can do with these. And, Weiss, let Penny know if there’s anything specific you want.”</p>
<p>Penny grinned and bounced on her toes before turning to head back to her work station. “Follow me, Weiss,” she cheerily said. </p>
<p>Weiss glanced between Winter and where Penny headed and sighed before following along. It didn’t take long for Penny to begin work. Weiss could barely keep up with her as she worked. Her eyes saw her movements, she heard all of the sounds as she typed away and adjusted everything on the display, but all of it went far beyond Weiss’ knowledge of everything. Rather than use one of the dolled-up options she had brought with her, it was decided she would work with Penny to create something better. But… the speed Penny worked… it absolutely astounded her. Penny took scans of Weiss’ head, scans of every face Weiss brought, and did her own personal measurements before consulting photos of Winter and the photo Winter had of her and Weiss as children.</p>
<p>“I am almost done, Weiss,” Penny announced and smiled at her while she continued to type. </p>
<p>The android girl certainly kept a friendly attitude which Weiss almost found off-putting for some reason. The idea that someone other than Winter would be so welcoming of her remained foreign and difficult to even imagine. “Thank you, Penny,” Weiss smiled back, having mastered faking smiles for the public. If Penny let on that she knew the smile was fake, she didn’t say, but Weiss had a feeling she did. </p>
<p>Penny slid her chair back from the terminal and let Weiss have a better look at the display. What she saw left her mildly confused. Her face was not there, but instead, a series of codes in one open window, a window next to it showed text boxes filled with strings of symbols, numbers, letters, and characters in what had to be other alphabets. </p>
<p>“What am I looking at?” Weiss asked and glanced between Penny and the screen. </p>
<p>“It is your new face,” Penny told her matter-of-factly with a slight look of concern being expressed. “Can you not visualize it?”</p>
<p>Weiss shook her head. “It just looks like gibberish to me.”</p>
<p>Penny frowned as she gazed at Weiss a long moment before she leaned in to tap a few keys on the input panel which brought up a slowly rotating 3D model of-</p>
<p>“Oh, wow,” Weiss whispered. It looked like… Her. The shape of the nose, the curve of her jaw, height of her cheekbones… “It’s weird seeing, well, me, but a new version of me like that.” She looked at Penny.</p>
<p>“Do you approve?” Penny asked with wide eyes, a hint of nervousness in her expression.</p>
<p>“I- Yes. Let’s go with this.”</p>
<p>Penny grinned and slid back over to begin the process of printing the design. “This will be done in approximately one hour,” she announced. </p>
<p>Weiss couldn’t help but feel a bit more relaxed from the knowledge. “I suppose the next part is figuring out hair.”</p>
<p>“We have a lot of options, but you want to go with white, correct?” </p>
<p>The question seemed obvious to Weiss at first, but the longer she thought about it, she didn’t know. Was it the wrong hair color that bothered her? Or was it the mismatched skin tone and the slapdash job she had done to disguise herself? She could go with any color she wanted. Even something that would make her look, as her father would put it, like a criminal degenerate. Freedom was an overwhelming thing. “Let’s see what’s available,” she replied. </p>
<p>Penny clapped her hands together in an overly giddy manner right before grabbing Weiss’ hand and dragging her across the workshop to a display case featuring different cuts and styles and a catalog of colors, and an interactive display screen mounted next to it. “We have a bunch of these here, but not in all colors. We can run some custom orders here and or place orders for some of the ones in other materials than the standard carbocrylic synthetics. Mine is made from the standard materials, though, and I like it.” Penny grinned and turned her head from side to side to show off her bright orange hair, letting the light catch it. </p>
<p>It was all a lot for Weiss to take in. “The standard material is fine for me,” she spoke softly. She couldn’t remember what the ones her father had made for her were made of, but it wouldn’t surprise her if it was something rather expensive, just so he could flaunt his wealth to others and further sell the Schnee Corp image. Just thinking about it caused a weight to settle in her abdomen to simulate disgust. Looking over the display case she spotted a few similar to her old cut; long hair pulled back into a ponytail and held up with pins. Several different lengths of cuts in that style, all white. She could only assume it was part of what Winter was telling her earlier, people wanting to emulate Weiss’ style her father’s company pushed. She grimaced and stepped to the screen to flip through options. </p>
<p>Penny watched Weiss swipe through the catalog, and it didn’t escape Weiss’ attention. She could feel the other robot’s gaze as she searched. All of the long styles made her feel ill. The maintenance that needed to go into them to prevent tangles and knotting. Memories of sitting in the chair and having stylists fix her appearance before another public appearance lasted multiple hours. Long hair was not something she wished to deal with again. She quickly swiped further in and found a section of shorter styles. Many seemed to be too short for her. If she was being honest, Weiss wanted it to be long enough to still run and tangle her fingers through. </p>
<p>Further, into the selections, Weiss slowed down. Three stood out to her, but she wasn’t sure how they would look with her face shape. Or her new face. Turning to Penny, she asked, “Are these ones ready to go? Or, is there a way to test them?”</p>
<p>“Of course! I can show you using the model we made.” Penny zipped off to pull up something on the design terminal and Weiss slowly approached. Weiss could see three separate windows open, each with a model of her newly designed face, each with a different hairstyle. With a grin, Penny spun around to face Weiss. “What do you think?”</p>
<p>“I’m- I’m not sure,” Weiss replied as she looked closer at the three options she had selected. Viewing them closer, one seemed to frame her face all wrong. The rounded shape didn’t complement her face in the slightest. The next two looked… a lot better. She had a hard time picking between them and tried her best to find fault with either. They both looked cute for different reasons. One looked to be short in the back and tapered down to be longer in the front, and did a decent job of framing her face well. Plus, the bangs of it offered a cute shape that she really liked. The other, though, looked to be short all around the sides and back while longer on top combed over to the side. As she stared at them both, her sister sneaked up behind her. </p>
<p>“I think you should go for that one,” Winter whispered and pointed to the style that was cut short all around. </p>
<p>That was all the convincing Weiss needed. “Let’s go with that one,” she smiled.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Happy Halloween, if you're into that. <br/>Not a lot happened in this chapter, but I feel it was all important to further things along. Plus, Penny! </p>
<p>I hope you're all enjoying this. I'm definitely flying without a destination when I write it, so I'm not even sure where it's going to end up. We'll have to find out together.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Winter appeared behind her in the mirror and Weiss smiled at her sister. </p><p>“Feeling a little better?” Winter asked.</p><p>“Much,” Weiss replied, honestly. It was true. With her new face and hair, she felt closer to how she should. The rest of her body needed to be changed next, but that one would take time to build and adjust. </p><p>“I’m glad. Want to come take a look at the design I have for your new body so far? It’s not much just yet, but I have the chassis mostly designed. You should come tell me whatever changes need to be done, though.” Winter placed a hand on Weiss’ shoulder. </p><p>All of the small and subtle contacts that her sister made kicked her processors into higher speeds. Weiss didn’t know why that exactly happened, but it wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, she liked it very much. “Of course,” she grinned and turned to follow Winter into another part of the workshop.</p><p>As she followed along, Weiss noted Penny watching the two of them with an expression she didn’t fully recognize. At first, she thought it was directed at Winter, but once she caught Penny’s eyes, it seemed more apparent she was watching her instead. Something about it all felt weird to her and not being able to place a reason to the behavior felt confusing. Overthinking again. That’s what she was doing. </p><p>Weiss stopped next to Winter at the display terminal. A faceless humanoid… thing… showed on the display. “Is that what you had in mind?” she asked. </p><p>“It is. Take a few moments to look it over and let me know if anything needs to change. I wasn’t sure of the height, so we can scale that. I can tell you’re not happy being this tall,” Winter smiled and nudged Weiss with her shoulder.</p><p>“Maybe Penny’s height? Or a little shorter?” Weiss asked, hesitation in her voice. She didn’t know what height she wanted to be. Having a choice in how she looked, in general, was new to her. Humans never got a say in how their bodies looked beneath everything. People grew to heights without any input. Faces and skin and eyes and hair and all of it was predetermined for everyone. Some could be changed. Hair could be dyed, or people could wear wigs. Contacts existed for eyes, or transplants for those with enough money, organic or cybernetic. Faces had surgery options. But it all seemed so complicated without any guarantees. Flesh healed and changed over time. But here Weiss was, being given options for who she could be. </p><p>“Let’s see…” Winter hummed quietly and typed something in. She stepped back to show Weiss again. “You’d come up to about…” She hummed and held a hand up to her shoulder. “Here.”</p><p>That height… she hadn’t been that height in so long. Even Penny went up to Winter’s nose it seemed. But shoulder height… She liked the sound of that. “That’s perfect,” Weiss told her. “But…” she paused. Something about the model was bugging her. “Can we make the chest smaller?”</p><p>Winter blinked. “Of course, baby sister.” Another series of key presses and the model’s chest shrank. “How does this look?”</p><p>“Perfect,” Weiss said with a smile. “How long before I can be in it?” She turned to her sister with hopeful eyes. The sooner she got out of the disaster she inhabited the better she would feel, but Weiss had a feeling this would be a whole process. </p><p>“Well, since we’re going with a custom-built model like this, it might be a bit before it’s complete. And I was hoping I could actually take a look inside you later if that’s okay, and see if I can salvage some of your current parts for the new one. When I was in there last night, I noticed something odd with some of the readings. But, we can go over that later, if it’s okay. If you’d prefer not to have Schnee Corp parts, I can start from the ground up, but it will take longer,” Winter explained.</p><p>Knowing it would be a long while didn’t inspire hope. Weiss wanted to be out of whatever her father forced her into sooner rather than later. Though, the idea of being without any Schnee Corp parts appealed to her even more. She already accepted endless suffering in the past, so pushing it for a bit longer before having it fully end didn’t seem to be that much more of a stretch. Her stomach felt heavy and she felt a flutter in her chest. Conflicting emotions made the systems she contained do battle. Happiness and dread warring within her. “I don’t want to be in this body anymore, but I also don’t want any of these parts. I can hold on for a while longer if it means not dealing with father’s company anymore.” </p><p>Winter nodded and pulled out her phone, tapping something out on it. If she had to guess, Weiss thought she might be taking notes. “I’ll get everything figured out for you. Shouldn’t be longer than… two weeks. Maybe less.” She hummed in thought and scrolled through something on her phone. “Definitely less, actually. Our restock will be here in just a couple days and I can have the frame constructed in no time after that. The rest is easy,” she laughed. </p><p>Weiss had no clue of the process that went into making a robot body, or replacement limb, or any cybernetic part, and had to trust her sister’s word on things. Though, two weeks wouldn’t be the worst wait. She was with Winter, and she had her new face. That was enough to lessen the crawling sensation beneath her synth-skin. </p><p>“Anyway, I’ll finish up a few things and we can head back home soon,” her sister told her, putting her phone away.</p><p>Weiss hummed in acknowledgment. She spotted a free stool and sat down on it, rolling over to be near Winter while she worked. This seemed a good time to keep figuring out what everything on her phone was.</p><hr class="solid"/><p>“Friend Weiss?” Penny whispered and Weiss looked up from her phone. </p><p>“Penny?” </p><p>“Will you join me to talk a moment?”</p><p>Weiss contemplated what it was she could want. Perhaps it had to do with why she was watching her so intently earlier, and the odd expression on her face. A single glance is all it took to confirm Winter remained busy at her work station and Weiss returned her gaze to Penny. “Sure.”</p><p>“Please follow me.” Penny smiled and walked around the separator wall in the workshop and led Weiss back to her work area. This time, two chairs sat in the space. Where she got them, Weiss wasn’t sure. They didn’t look familiar, but she also hadn’t seen the entirety of the building, so a breakroom type space could exist somewhere and Penny could have gotten- </p><p>She stopped her rambling train of thought when Penny sat down and motioned for her to do the same. “What is it you wanted to talk about?” Hesitation laced her voice and Weiss knew she was anything but subtle. The situation had her feeling defensive.</p><p>“Earlier when you said you could not visualize the data, did you really mean that?” Penny asked.</p><p>Thrown off, Weiss blinked and paused. “I- I did. It all looked like symbols and gibberish to me. Should I be able to see it differently?” Penny looked sad at the answer. Obviously, Weiss was supposed to be able to do something and clearly, she couldn’t. This seemed to be a common theme in her life. The strangely hidden and sheltered life she was forced into did nothing for her life skills. </p><p>“I suppose not. I had hoped you could, but it makes sense for you to not be able to.”</p><p>“Because I used to be human?” Weiss asked and Penny nodded. Of course. “Great,” she sighed. “I’m not human enough to be a normal person, and I’m not robot enough to function properly.” Weiss leaned forward and held her head in her hands while resting her elbows on her knees. </p><p>“Do not worry. I can help you if you would like,” Penny offered. </p><p>“Help me be a robot?” Weiss laughed. “I don’t know.” She looked up and saw the frown on Penny’s face. “I’m not sure how much I can even learn about that.”</p><p>“May I try something?” </p><p>Weiss lifted her head. “What did you have in mind?” she asked, cautiously. People having access to her and her body left Weiss slow to trust new people, the android in front of her included. </p><p>“Please sit up and look into my eyes so I may perform an optical scan.” </p><p>Optical scan? What did Penny need to do an optical scan for? If Winter trusted her, though, maybe she should, too, even if she was getting uncomfortable. Weiss sat up, straightening her posture, and stared into Penny’s eyes. Very rapid pulses of light shined into her optical sensors. She could feel something happening and the sensation was entirely new. Her eye’s lenses widened to allow more light in, pushing forward from her head’s chassis enough to keep the synth-skin eyelids from blocking them, Penny’s following suit. The experience unsettled Weiss more than she had words for, and it sent her body into a locked position. Unable to move, speak, or look away, she endured the strange event happening to her in silence. Similar flashes of light emitted from her own eyes and the process repeated. Each girl flashed lights from their eyes until finally, Penny’s eyes retracted back into her chassis, and Weiss’ soon after. A gentle hum in her chest cavity alerted her to the cooling system housed within turning on. </p><p>“Just as I thought. Your systems are not fully operational.” Penny’s expression softened, gazing at Weiss in pity. “But don’t worry! When Winter builds your new body, you should have access to the full capabilities of your hardware!” Happiness flooded the android girl’s tone. “And then I can assist you in being a robot.”</p><p>“I’ll think about it,” Weiss told her. Not even a full day in the city and she was being told she was broken. Most likely the hardware in her restricted by the ones who installed it. “We should tell Winter, tho-”</p><p>“Weiss?” Winter called out, interrupting the conversation.</p><p>“We’re over here, friend Winter!” Penny chirped. </p><p>Within seconds, Winter rounded the corner. “There you are. I just finished. We can close up whenever you two are ready.”</p><p>“Weiss is not fully operational,” Penny said with some sense of authority. </p><p>Weiss looked between Penny and Winter, the latter of which frowned and gazed at her. “I did notice some lockouts in place last night from the scan, but I didn’t think they would impact actual performance. How did you figure this out? Because doing the direct connect didn’t show that.”</p><p>“We did something with flashing lights?” Weiss tried to explain. “With our eyes.”</p><p>Winter winced. “I see.” She turned to look at Penny. “You have to be careful, Penny, because she still has a human consciousness. That could have-” </p><p>Penny drooped. Her expression dropped and her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Look. It’s okay. But, just be careful. Stopping and starting systems is extremely jarring for people,” Winter explained and set a hand on Penny’s shoulder. Weiss felt… something… in her stomach. The sight of Winter comforting Penny made her feel something unpleasant, but it was over before she could put much thought into it. Winter did the same for her, placing a hand on her shoulder and smiling. “Just another reason to go with a whole new body, I guess. And, speaking of, the orders are placed so the supplies will be here before the end of the week. I have the first part of your new chassis printing now.”</p><p>Beside them, Penny bounced on her toes, perking back up. “Did you remember to order parts seventeen through twenty-one, forty-three, ninety-seven, and ninety-nine from catalog zero-zero-two-eight-seven-six-four-one?”</p><p>“I did,” Winter answered with a laugh. “You’ll be able to finish your project this weekend.”</p><p>Penny clapped her hands together, holding them together, and bounced on her toes again. “Thank you!”</p><p>“Of course. Now, let’s get ready to leave. I’m sure your dad is expecting you soon,” Winter smiled.</p><hr class="solid"/><p>Where Penny lived happened to be a short walk from Winter’s workshop, and despite the method of travel being walking along the city’s ground-level, the walkways remained relatively refuse-free and brightly lit. With all of the buildings rising higher and higher and public transport in the cities growing to meet the demands of expanding populations, pedestrian pathways down on the surface tended to go neglected. Rampant crime such as muggings, drugs, and general shakedowns were common down below. Or perhaps that was simply something Weiss’ dad told her to scare her away from those he deemed beneath them. Exaggerated stories of robberies, violent and fatal assaults, filthy conditions, dark streets littered with trash. An upperclassman’s nightmare. </p><p>From Weiss’ limited time away from her father, she saw things she never dreamed she would while being ferried from place to place or stuck in the mansion, and most of it went against what her father told her to be the truth, so finding out the streets were not stained with blood and detritus didn’t come as much of a shock. So much of her world was shaped by lies, but being angry about it all felt more exhausting than it was worth. It didn’t matter right then. And it may not matter in the future, either. With Winter’s help, the world looked brighter. </p><p>Penny skipped ahead, passing from one lamppost to another before stopping in front of a glass door that slid open automatically. “Thank you, friends!” she called out before turning to enter the building. </p><p>A weight in Weiss’ body lessened when Penny disappeared out of sight and a new one settled in her abdomen as whatever mechanical reactions occurred when her body processed feelings of guilt. Penny leaving shouldn’t have made Weiss happy, but at the same time, she didn’t care. The girl made her feel on edge sometimes. It had been less than ten hours and she could say with some manner of certainty that Penny made her feel… No, Weiss wasn’t going to say it. Instead, she walked beside Winter a little bit closer, her shoulder nudging her every so often. </p><p>“Ready to head home?” Winter asked and smiled at Weiss. </p><p>“I am,” Weiss replied, returning the smile. Surely she was simply happy to see her sister again after all these years.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Still working on this one! <br/>Now I've got an outline for it, so woo! Some direction going forward! <br/>Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying this still~ ♥</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A machine body without olfactory sensors felt a blessing and a curse. On one hand, the unpleasant smells that Weiss remembered from when she had an organic body with a full set of functioning sensory systems were definitely something she didn’t miss. At least, she didn’t think she did. The heavy smell of cigar smoke that had long settled into at least one of the meeting rooms for the Schnee Corp business offices used to always turn her stomach. It was stale and way too much for her to handle. Every time she went in there she left feeling like the scent clung to her skin and clothes. It definitely clung to her father every time he had a business meeting. It accented his sour moods after such meetings or weighed down the good ones in a stomach-turning air. </p>
<p>The pungent scent of her mother’s wine on her breath happened to be another smell that she didn’t miss. It held sour notes that caught in the back of her throat, and on days her stomach already felt less than one hundred percent she found herself gagging. Her mother only drank on the worst of occasions and Weiss remembered the harsh words spat in her direction more than once. It made the following day’s apologies, if they ever came, all the more awkward since she could always still smell the alcohol on her as her body processed it to the best of its abilities, sweating it out. She smelled sour. </p>
<p>Metallic scents of blood that closed her throat. Another smell she didn’t miss. When her pet dog had been accidentally run over when she was seven by a guest of her father. The smell of blood and dirt that clung to him as she knelt down next to him. That day, her father smelt like alcohol when he punished her for not locking her dog up properly. </p>
<p>But the pleasant scents, like the fresh stone fruits and cream which one of the servants in the mansion would bring her to cheer her up after her parents had made her cry, those she missed. Smelling the calla lilies that grew in the atrium gardens. The soothing scent of her pillow as she lay her head down to sleep after the linens got changed. Food. Any food. She missed the smell and taste of food most. And Weiss found herself sitting in the front room of her sister’s apartment as she cooked dinner for herself, wishing she could appreciate her sister’s cooking. </p>
<p>“Are you okay, Weiss?” Winter asked as she glanced to her side to take a look at her sister sitting, watching her cook. </p>
<p>“I’m alright. Only thinking how strange it is to be around food again,” she explained. “Sometimes I miss the smell and taste of things.”</p>
<p>Winter frowned a moment. “Around food? I understand you don’t need to eat, but did-” Her expression turned dark. “He really kept you locked up until it was time to show you off again, didn’t he?”</p>
<p>Weiss didn’t want to answer the question. While she told Winter about a lot of the mistreatment she received under the care of their ‘parents’ back home and traveling, and more accurately, all the time, there were still a lot of things she didn’t share with her. She didn’t know why, exactly, outside of the fact she didn’t want to upset Winter more than she already was about everything. Weiss slowly nodded, and if it wasn’t for the manual overrides she was forced to learn about she would have flinched when Winter spun around and tossed the kitchen towel she had slung over her shoulder on the counter. </p>
<p>“Sorry,” Winter sighed, turning back around. She was quiet a long moment, pinching the bridge of her nose with her eyes shut. “I’m so thankful you’re here and no longer with them.” </p>
<p>Winter’s words were a soft mumble that Weiss heard with perfect clarity. Hearing them from Winter sent signals through her main processes that she had to dismiss. Wanting to get up and hug her sister simply wasn’t something she should do. Not in the kitchen when Winter was cooking. Not after making her upset like that. Right? It didn’t matter. The moment was gone and Winter forced a smile. </p>
<p>“Well, I was going to go over it with you later on, but I made sure your new body has both gustatory and olfactory systems upgrade options available if you’re at all interested.” The look of confusion on Weiss’ face had to be clear since her sister quickly clarified. “Taste and smell,” she laughed. “I do have to warn, though, that without the natural limiters of being, well, flesh and bone, both of those senses will be heightened to extremes. So, it’s something to think about.” Winter’s smile appeared more genuine. </p>
<p>“I’ll think about it,” Weiss said, very curious about how heightened they would be. In front of her, Winter finished whatever she was doing and plated up food for herself. Having grown up always having food prepared for her, and then swiftly transitioning to not even needing to eat, Weiss was woefully unknowledgeable when it came to cooking. Everything Winter did before her looked too complicated for Weiss to do herself. </p>
<p>“Come on, let’s watch a movie or something,” Winter smiled, coming around the kitchen counter to lead them into the front room. </p>
<p>Weiss followed her sister and sat next to her on the couch. Whatever Winter picked out to watch seemed entertaining enough, though she found her thoughts wandering more and more to earlier at the shop, with Winter and Penny. Specifically the two of them. Together. Them working together in that shop for so long. She scooted closer to her sister, barely leaving a gap between them on the couch. If Winter noticed, she either didn’t mind or didn’t say anything. Weiss, though, felt conflicting systems inside her springing to life. The same sense of weight she felt in her chest and where her stomach would be when she gave too much mind to the redheaded robot. The heavy, maddening, sense of… Weiss didn’t know. </p>
<p>To combat that feeling was another surging energy and fluttering sensation inside her at spending time with Winter. Her sister. The one person who truly cared about her. Who took her in. Rescued her. Helped her out of an impossible situation, freeing her from the cage their so-called parents locked her inside of. </p>
<p>Very conflicting. And confusing. Weiss could feel her heat dispersion units whirring to life and almost wished they didn’t because the discomfort felt, well, confusingly comfortable. Familiar. Feeling good was foreign and strange. </p>
<p>When Winter wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Weiss was suddenly thankful for her heat dispersion units and the comfort.</p>
<p><br/>
</p><hr/>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>The day promised to be a short one work-wise. Only two custom jobs needed parts replaced and one synth-skin order to be filled. Despite being told she could stay home since the workload that day would be light, Weiss insisted on going to the shop with her sister. She had spent far too much time alone and wasn’t about to make a habit of doing that any more than necessary. Not when her sister was… right… there. In her reach. They had spent far too long apart because of their father. Her sister promised they could close shop when the orders were finished since the other machines were being utilized for building the rest of Weiss’ new chassis. </p>
<p>“When we get there, I need to finish one order immediately since the client is going to be in around noon,” Winter sighed. “He apparently called about it a bit ago and needs it by tonight since his spare hand is, well, very outdated.” She laughed. “Apparently he doesn’t want to run the risk of it not being cooperative during some important meeting with the defense department.”</p>
<p>Weiss couldn’t recall if her sister ever said who her main client-base was, but from the sounds of it there were a lot of important people who went through her for their prosthetics which made her wonder how their father felt about what she was doing. Obviously, during the showroom exhibitions, the Schnee Corp was marketing their products to big clients and securing deals where they could to rise up in both money and power, but something had to be said for the small shops that did custom jobs, especially ones in demand by important people. </p>
<p>“Don’t worry, though. It shouldn’t take too long. I just need to finish calibrating some of the finer motor movements,” Winter continued as the vehicle pulled into a parking spot behind the building. </p>
<p>The moment the sisters stepped through the door to the shop, Penny rushed Winter and leaped at her to hug her. “Friend Winter!”</p>
<p>“Guh, hey Penny,” Winter grunted. Weiss could see the sheer weight of the impact nearly made her topple backward if it wasn’t for a quick hand to brace herself against the nearby wall. “Good morning. You’re here early again.”</p>
<p>At that moment, Weiss felt her heat dispersion fans kick on and a sudden heaviness settle into her lower abdomen. The tension she had gotten rid of the night before after seeing Penny home returned and to prevent herself from balling her hands into fists, she placed them flat against her thighs. </p>
<p>“I am. I was excited to begin working again,” Penny grinned, still hugging Winter. </p>
<p>“I hope you haven’t been here too long,” Winter’s words rolled out as she wiggled her arms free from the grasp of the robot girl. “I should start working, too.” </p>
<p>A gentle nudge was all Penny needed to let go of the older woman and rock back on her feet. “I apologize,” Penny said with a drop in her voice and demeanor, but turned to Weiss and started to approach, arms wide open for another hug, but Weiss slipped around the divider and settled onto a stool in the corner of Winter’s work area not wanting to watch the scene any further. </p>
<p>“It’s quite alright. We may not have a busy day, but the orders we have are important,” Winter explained.</p>
<p>Of all the things to start her day with, being confronted with what felt like a malfunction in her core was not how she wanted to start what otherwise should have been an enjoyable day with her sister. Something was wrong with her and she didn’t like it. Almost as much as she didn’t like Penny. In that moment. Seeing her hugging Winter like that. Why did thoughts of Penny frustrate her so much? It’s not as if Winter replaced her with Penny, Weiss tried to reason with herself. Right? She didn’t think so, at least. </p>
<p>“You okay?” </p>
<p>Weiss looked up to see her sister approach. How should she respond to that? She wasn’t okay. Something was wrong. So very wrong. </p>
<p>Winter pulled her stool over with her foot before plopping down on it and scooting closer to Weiss. “You have the ‘something is bothering me’ face. What’s going on, baby sister? You can tell me.”</p>
<p>Seconds ticked by as Weiss contemplated what to do. Clearly there was a problem, but it seemed to be more with herself than anyone else. She bothered herself more than anything with how much she wanted to scream until her vocal speakers blew out. Penny did nothing wrong. Weiss knew that. She knew a lot of things, like how petty she felt for ignoring Penny as she did. How-</p>
<p>Winter sighed. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to. But, just know you can always talk with me. You’re my baby sister. No matter what.”</p>
<p>Weiss balled her fists and leaned forward to rest her face on her knee. “I’m unhappy,” she spoke softly, words muffled from being spoken against her legs. </p>
<p>“I know.” Winter rolled the stool closer and placed a hand on Weiss’ back. “It’ll be okay. Your body will be made soon. Parts are being printed right now,” she reassured her, but it wasn’t what was bothering Weiss the most right then. </p>
<p>“That’s… That’s not it.” Weiss loosened her hands and wrapped her arms beneath her legs to hug them. “I don’t know what it is. Or, I do, but I don’t. I don’t know why I feel like I do, and I don’t think I can talk about it because I don’t think I can change it.” </p>
<p>Winter rubbed circled over Weiss’ back, the soothing motions causing her systems to settle down from the brink of kicking into overdrive from distress. She didn’t say anything for what felt like a long time, and Weiss wasn’t paying attention to tell how much time actually passed. Emotions calmed to functional levels again while she attempted to process the situation. Was she… jealous? Of Penny? But Penny wasn’t living with Winter. She didn’t get called “baby sister” at all. And hugging Winter was something she, herself, did, too. So, what was it? Weiss felt herself getting bogged down again and did her best to push that all from her processes. </p>
<p>“I’m okay,” Weiss mumbled and let go of her legs to sit up a little. “I’ll be okay.”</p>
<p>“Are you sure?” Winter’s skepticism was anything but subtle. </p>
<p>“I am. I think I’ll go into standby for a bit while you work. I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>“Don’t be sorry. If you’re sure, I’ll get started so we can get out of here sooner,” Winter smiled. </p>
<p>Weiss nodded and finished sitting up before closing her eyes. If it was jealousy she felt, maybe giving herself a rest could help that subside.</p>
<p><br/>
</p><hr/>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>When Weiss opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was her sister standing in front of one of the large machines in the back of her work area. She didn’t know exactly what it was, or what it was used for, but the way it kept in constant motion, she figured it could possibly be one of the printers her sister mentioned. From what she could tell, it was past noon and she had been in standby for at least three hours if not four. She couldn’t hear Penny in the other room which… was strange. With a quick decision to not question it, Weiss got to her feet and walked over to where Winter stood.</p>
<p>“What’s going on?” </p>
<p>“You’re up,” Winter smiled, stepping closer to Weiss. “I’m just waiting on this piece to finish before starting the next one.”</p>
<p>“What about the other jobs you needed to do?” Weiss asked as she watched the printer go. The routine motion of the nozzle working over the pattern in quick repeated movements felt mesmerizing to watch. Seeing herself being made before her eyes, the materials being layered and layered to create the body she would be housed within and control hit harder than she thought it would.</p>
<p>“I finished them up when you were out,” Winter explained. “I told you it wouldn’t take all that long.” </p>
<p>“And Penny?” Weiss saw the machine give the final passes over the piece and slide the plate containing it to the secondary position, readying a new printer plate to be printed upon as the first cooled. </p>
<p>“Penny went home when she finished the synth-skin job.” Winter turned while punching in something to a terminal on the side of the machine. After a few decisive key presses, the machine stirred to life once more. In moments, it began laying the beginning of the next part of Weiss’ chassis on the printing plate in record speed. “And, if we’re lucky, this will be done soon enough for me to begin assembling everything by the end of the week.”</p>
<p>“And I’ll be able to move into it?” Weiss’ voice held hopeful notes.</p>
<p>“I’d say… assuming no setbacks, sometime next week,” Winter said confidently, turning back around to face Weiss. “Now come on, let’s go home.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm still here! November has been slow moving for me on this story, but I have a rough outline of events to cover for it now which should make it somewhat easier. </p>
<p>Starting to show more of Winter and Weiss in this while Weiss begins to slowly acknowledge something is going on with her feelings. </p>
<p>Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. </p>
<p>Until next time~ ♥</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Whoa, calm down, Penny,” Winter chuckled, stepping around the redhead. “We need to take inventory first.”</p>
<p>Weiss spent another day with her sister in the workshop. The longer she spent there, the more she began to understand how the business operated. While it wasn’t advertised, the word of mouth method brought in all of the clients they needed. Plus, according to Winter, at least two of the local doctors listed the shop as a recommendation for those needing cybernetics of some sort. But Winter also got to pick and choose who she did work for. And a general rule for the shop was nobody on the Schnee Corp payroll was allowed to do business with them. In fact, Winter insisted on using no Schnee Corp parts, either going with other manufacturers and customizing stock parts or rigging together things on her own with non-Schnee Corp components. </p>
<p>She still didn’t understand most of what Winter did, or how a lot of the parts and machines worked outside of the summarized blurbs she had to memorize for expos, but it didn’t matter. </p>
<p>Seeing Penny repeatedly bouncing on her toes in a rapid fashion from excitement grated on her nerves. Weiss told herself it was simply jealousy which… didn’t exactly make anything better. But telling herself that helped it make sense. She just needed to find out why she felt jealous of the robot girl. It made next to no logical sense. For the most part, Winter didn’t treat Penny much different than a coworker, or how Weiss assumed someone would treat their coworkers outside of corporate settings. She had seen plenty of people at the expos sometimes hug in greeting. Of course, her father would rather be punched in the face than hugged by anyone, but that was irrelevant. So… What was it about Penny that bugged her so much?</p>
<p>Winter pulled out a small knife clipped to the inside of her pocket and flicked it open, crouching down to begin opening the boxes stacked on the floor. From her standing position, leaning against the divider wall, Weiss saw her sister remove many different small boxes in varying shapes and sizes, multiple different languages printed across them, and started to organize them into three piles. Penny stepped close and watched with interest as the sorting began and stared intently at one pile in particular. If Weiss had to guess, it was the parts she requested Winter order for her, but she had no clue what any of them were. Another large box was opened and it, too, was filled with dozens of smaller products inside. It seemed each one came from a different manufacturer, or distributer, or warehouse. She didn’t know how far up or down the supply chain Winter ordered from, so it was possible the parts came from different stores. After a number of larger boxes emptied, her sister organized the piles into three of the boxes for easier sorting. </p>
<p>Once finished, Penny scooped up one box and carried all of the parts to her work station. Winter, however, grabbed the other two boxes, stacking one on top of the other, and started to carry them to her own workstation. </p>
<p>“Did you want any help with that?” Weiss asked, stepping closer. </p>
<p>“That’s alright. I’m not going far,” Winter replied as she rounded the corner toward her workbench to drop one box off, and carry the last into the storage closet next to her desk. With a grunt, Winter set the box inside and closed the door. “Well, some good news and some bad news,” she sighed. </p>
<p>Weiss didn’t like the sound of that; bad news in her life tended to be really bad. Whatever look of anxiety that unwillingly crossed her face was enough for Winter to close the distance between them and place a hand on her shoulder. The minor act at comforting her did its job, though, and the minor weighted sensation on her synth-skin sent signals to slow down the panic protocols. Weiss wanted to remove those, personally, but she remembered reading on her phone that human consciousness uploads couldn’t be altered without major detriments to the person’s psyche. Whatever article it was continued on in technical jargon she didn’t exactly understand, but the gist was enough to tell her she was stuck with all of her human reactions, positive and negative. </p>
<p>“All of the parts I need to finish your new body came in,” Winter explained. “That’s the good news. The bad news, though, is that there is only so much I can do before your chassis finishes printing, so this pushes things back another day or two.”</p>
<p>The bad news… didn’t seem so bad. Weiss had anticipated her body not being done until later next week anyway. “That’s- that’s okay,” Weiss replied. Winter’s hand remained on her shoulder and Weiss fought her desire to lean into it. </p>
<p>“Anyway, I think Dr. Polendina is going to stop by in a bit. I’ve got a couple of things I need to finish before then if you want to hang out, and then we can close up a little early.” Winter smiled and Weiss couldn’t help but smile in return. </p>
<p>She offered a soft nod in response. Predictably, her processors kicked up and whatever unpleasantness her mind had started before when thinking too hard about Penny stopped while new routines flipped on. “I would like that.”</p>
<p>Winter gave Weiss’ shoulder a squeeze before letting go with a smile. “Good.”</p>
<p><br/>
</p><hr/>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>Through several different processes of trial and error, Weiss thought she possibly figured out how to read faster than she previously thought. It took watching Penny scan things for information for Weiss to realize that her eyes were camera lenses of a sort, her body digital, and her memories stored as data rather than nebulous clusters of association in an organic processor. It also helped that Weiss had spent a period of time recently trying to learn more about human consciousness to cybernetic replacement processes. Several articles theorized that the only limiting factor between a human consciousness inside the same hardware as an AI is the human consciousness holds onto the human limiters they had while still fully human. Weiss didn’t understand most of the article, but she picked up enough to figure that if she tried hard enough, she could possibly do things faster and more efficiently. </p>
<p>Maybe. </p>
<p>Every time she tried to speed read, though, things fell flat and she lost track of what she was supposed to be following. It felt like her brain was tripping over itself, or some internal systems network connection kept cutting in and out. Something about it frustrated her. Well, all of it frustrated her. Reminded her she wasn’t human, nor was she a robot. She wasn’t enough of either one to have much of a sense of identity with either. </p>
<p>It was during another failed attempt to push her robotic capabilities that Winter interrupted her.</p>
<p>“Baby sister,” she whispered while crouching down next to Weiss. “Dr. Polendina is here.” She placed a hand on Weiss’ knee which kicked her systems into a flurry. </p>
<p>“Right,” Weiss mumbled and stood up a bit too quickly sending the stool she sat on to roll back against the workbench. </p>
<p>“Careful,” Winter chuckled as she stood up. She placed a hand at the small of Weiss’ back to help guide her into the front of the shop. “Welcome, doctor.”</p>
<p>“Oh, please, how many times have we been over this, Winter? Call me Pietro,” the man laughed and his chair swayed slightly, the spider-like legs beneath it having a natural give to them to accommodate organic movements of the rider. “And I assume this is young Weiss?” he asked with a warmth to his expression. </p>
<p>The man both unnerved and comforted Weiss. Seeing someone so father-like had that effect, she thought. Or perhaps grandfather-like. His age seemed to be a bit of a mystery since his eyes held a youthfulness to them behind his glasses. “Sir,” Weiss quietly said with a bow of her head. </p>
<p>“Don’t be so formal,” Pietro laughed again. </p>
<p>“Yes, this is Weiss, my sister I told you about,” Winter explained, confirming the question, and placed a hand on Weiss’ shoulder.</p>
<p>“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Weiss,” Pietro smiled and his spider-legged chair walked forward and more into view from the other side of Penny’s desk, letting Weiss take in the entirety of the creation. The six-legged machine was something of a marvel to Weiss. Nearly everyone she saw who needed assistance walking opted for strapped on mechanical leg braces, or prosthetics. Seeing someone of the doctor’s status, or anyone really, using a motorized device that wasn’t a pair of their own legs to walk was strange, and especially so since the device he rode on looked very peculiar. Each leg looked like a spider’s own, forming arches at the joint, but also looked like if they were to lift the doctor up to their max capability, it would easily place his head near the ceiling. And the way it moved… The device practically glided, not jostling the rider in the least. </p>
<p>“Admiring my chair?” Pietro asked with a chuckle. “I get that a lot. I designed it myself.”</p>
<p>“It’s very…” Weiss struggled to find the word she wanted. “Unique.” That wasn’t exactly what she was after, but it would work. </p>
<p>“I suppose it is,” he agreed while still stepping closer. His squinted gaze over her seemed to scan her from head to toe which left Weiss feeling cautious. She didn’t know if it was something odd or simply his poor eyesight behind those glasses he wore, but she took a small shuffle back, ready to hide behind Winter if she needed to. “My apologies.” He took a half step back.</p>
<p>Without being prompted, Winter took a small step to her side, partially placing herself between Pietro and Weiss enough so their shoulders overlapped, much to Weiss’ relief. “It’s alright, doctor. Though I do feel like you’d benefit from those eye replacements we talked about.”</p>
<p>“Bah,” Pietro sighed. “Maybe if this was twenty years ago, but I’m too old for that stuff now,” he chuckled. “Anyway, have everything you need, Penny?”</p>
<p>Penny shot next to Pietro with a box in her arms containing the parts from earlier. “I do, father,” she chirped with a grin. </p>
<p>“Alright, we’ll let you two finish up. Let’s go, Penny.” The doctor waved at the Schnee sisters and turned to the door. Each movement of the chair looked surreal with how leveled the chair stayed despite the movement of the legs. The spider-like appendages worked with precision. </p>
<p>“Goodbye, friends!” Penny called out as she trailed behind the man and out the door.</p>
<p>As soon as the door was shut, Weiss had to ask. “That’s Penny’s father?”</p>
<p>“Not what you were expecting?” Winter asked, turning to face Weiss with a smile trying to push through. </p>
<p>Weiss shook her head. “Not at all.”</p>
<p>Winter finally smiled, seeing Weiss’ disbelief. “He built her a few years ago and has been teaching her all he knows about cybernetics and robotics. It’s his way of passing on his knowledge, knowing it will be in good hands.” After a moment and with a bit of a cheekier grin. “He’s also been teaching her what I’ve taught him, too.”</p>
<p>It made sense… in some way. She didn’t fully understand the need to keep a lot of this information private, but she also knew that people like their father would abuse that knowledge. She only had one other question right then. “What is Penny using those parts for?”</p>
<p>“I’m not sure. But she said she’ll show us next week. Whatever it is, she’s been planning and working on it for a while now. Anyway, let’s get ready and head home.” </p>
<p>Weiss was definitely ready to go home.</p>
<p><br/>
</p><hr/>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>Weiss watched in interest as Winter cooked dinner for herself again, this time from the comfort of a stool pulled up to a nearby counter in the kitchen. She held a deep fascination with the day-to-day aspects of human life, one that only developed as she got older and further detached from her old human life. As it stood, she spent just over half of her life in an android body replacement. Memories of being human felt so distant and dream-like. The time with her family, as a family, felt from another lifetime. But here was her sister. Treating her like a sister. Like family. She smiled as she watched Winter continue to stir something in a skillet. </p>
<p>Minutes later, Winter took the skillet from the burner and emptied its contents onto a plate. “Want to watch another movie?” she asked, turning to Weiss as she opened a drawer to grab a fork. </p>
<p>Weiss nodded. Evenings with Winter were the best part of the day. She got up and walked into the front room, just behind Winter. As she left, she tapped a panel to turn the kitchen lights off, slowing down to wait for Winter to pick a spot on the couch first. Wherever Winter picked, which usually happened to be a corner spot, Weiss sat right next to her. It was something that Weiss just… enjoyed. It made her systems feel lighter and blurred things in her mind enough to let go of the heaviness of being in a large and ill-fitted chassis which she hated. </p>
<p>With her sister already picking something to watch, Weiss settled right next to her on the couch. </p>
<p>“You’ve been a bit quiet tonight,” Winter broke the silence between them. “Everything okay? Anything you want to share or talk about?”</p>
<p>“I- No. I’m only thinking,” Weiss admitted without elaborating. She didn’t even know what was fully on her mind, so how could she share that general confusion? She cursed her father for not letting her attend normal classes. For not letting her pursue higher education. For stealing her life away for so long. If she had that time back, maybe she would be able to fully articulate what she wanted to express. Have words for her emotions. </p>
<p>“You know you can talk with me about anything,” Winter smiled and reached her arm around Weiss to give her a gentle sideways hug. </p>
<p>A hug from Winter. This is… nice, Weiss thought a moment before pulling her thoughts together again. “I know.” But her thoughts wandered again. The hope her sister gave her made it easier to bide her time in the monstrosity she was forced into. Seeing her new body being made bit by bit each day. Winter making her new body. Customizing it. Making… Her. It was- </p>
<p>“Are you sure you’re okay? Do your heat dispersal systems need checking again?” Winter sat up with a sigh. “I had hoped they would hold out until we could get you into the new body, but…” </p>
<p>“No, no! I’m okay!” Weiss hastily replied, already feeling her systems cooling down now that the train of thought was interrupted. “Really, I’m okay.”</p>
<p>Winter eyed her sister a moment and placed a hand on her back to feel. After a few seconds, she relaxed again. “Alright. But, tell me if you feel overheated at all. I can rig something to work until we can get you changed over.”</p>
<p>“I will. I promise.”</p>
<p>“Good,” Winter answered with a soft smile.</p>
<p><br/>
</p><hr/>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>As the evening continued, Weiss could see Winter growing more and more tired. The light outline of bags forming under her eyes couldn’t be missed with Weiss’ enhanced eyes. And not long after the movie ended, she was yawning, looking ready for bed. The oddest part was Weiss yawning in response to seeing Winter yawn. The action simply a mimic of an actual yawn, though, since she didn’t need to breathe. The empathic social part of her remained despite the biological restrictions having no need for the action. While she mused on this, Winter stood and stretched. </p>
<p>“Mm, I’m going to head to bed, baby sister,” Winter hummed out while she finished stretching. “Did you need any help getting the bed out?”</p>
<p>Weiss shook her head. “I can unfold it,” she smiled. “Get some rest.”</p>
<p>“Alright. I’ll see you in the morning,” Winter said with a smile and headed down the hallway to her room. </p>
<p>And it was time to pull out the couch into a bed. Again. </p>
<p>And it was time to change into clothing for being unconscious in. Again.</p>
<p>And it was time to mimic sleep by laying down in standby mode. Again.</p>
<p>When Weiss laid down on the sofa bed, not bothering with blankets, she stared at the ceiling feeling the weight of how monumental of a change she had made in her life by taking the risk to talk with Winter those weeks ago. Or was it months? Time moved oddly for her with how much of it remained blank during her standby sessions in her old room or traveling.</p>
<p>The end of the day felt the hardest. Weiss hated how she struggled to shut her mind off and part of her wanted to blame it on whatever restrictions that her father and the Schnee Corp placed on her hardware. Though… She knew on some level it had less to do with that and more to do with her own mental and emotional failings to calm herself. It was easier to stay in standby at home- </p>
<p>Her old home, she corrected herself. Winter’s apartment was home. Her new home. </p>
<p>At the Schnee house, mansion, estate, monstrosity of architecture, or however else it could be described, remaining in standby was easy simply because she had nothing else to do. Nobody she wanted to see. Nobody she could talk with. Going into standby meant not having to entertain herself or think about her situation. At Winter’s apartment, though… Her new home… There suddenly was an overwhelming amount of things to think about and process ranging from her own sense of self she recently gained, her sister she found once more, the new body she could hopefully be housed within soon, and whatever else she wanted. Her life was unrestricted for the first time and it scared her. </p>
<p>She huffed and closed her eyes. It was time to enter standby. Not think about everything. </p>
<p>Weiss had no luck. </p>
<p>She huffed again and tried shifting positions, but that didn’t work either. All of her thoughts swirled into a dizzying scroll of data that she both did and did not understand. </p>
<p>Weiss finally sat up and turned to hang her legs over the edge of the pullout bed. How much time had passed? Minutes? Hours? It didn’t matter. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to enter standby. Unless… </p>
<p>She glanced at the hall and a debate started in her head. She wasn’t the small girl she used to be anymore. Surely it would be strange to do what she did as a child again, in her oversized and sickening hunk of machinery and fake skin. Whatever cuteness she had was long gone, removed years and years ago, one upgrade at a time. So it would be wrong to do it, right? </p>
<p>Weiss balled her hands into fists and hit them on her knees in frustration at herself before opening them up to press on her knees as leverage to stand. </p>
<p>It was just Winter. Winter cared about her. Weiss felt she could tell if Winter wasn’t being genuine with her, so it would be worth asking. </p>
<p>She walked down the hallway to Winter’s door and pushed it open a bit further than it already was. Weiss could see the form of her sister on her bed, facing away from the doorway, and this caused the debate to start once more. Indecision would be the end of her. Finally, she crept in and made her way to the other side of the bed to crouch down next to her sister. Hesitating only briefly, Weiss placed a gentle hand on Winter’s shoulder. </p>
<p>“Mm, Weiss?” Winter groggily asked, eyes blinking open. “Is everything okay?” She sat up, looking concerned. </p>
<p>“I-” Weiss started. “I’m having a hard time going into standby. I was wondering if-”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Winter sleepily replied without needing to hear the rest. She scooted over to make room for Weiss on the bed. Just like when Weiss was small. Just like when she had a bad dream, or couldn’t sleep, or was upset. </p>
<p>And just like when Weiss was small, she was able to finally relax her mind to sleep… or enter standby.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This hasn't been forgotten! <br/>End of the year is just a weird time, but I'm still going with this fic. </p>
<p>Also, if you'll notice, I have more of a set chapter guideline for this story. I managed to figure out some more of my chapter stuff for it and what I want to tell with it. There might be future stuff I do with this world and story, but for the time being, these 13 chapters are my goal. </p>
<p>Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this~ ♥</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>